To The Editor:

As a Princeton resident, a parent, and a novelist for teens, I was disappointed by the lengthy May 16 Letter to the Editor mischaracterizing the services HiTOPS provides our community.

HiTOPS empowers young adults with the knowledge to make informed health decisions. If HiTOPS presented sexual activity as “unproblematic” (as the letter writers allege), such education, support and prevention programs wouldn’t be necessary. I’ve personally engaged with tens of thousands of young adults throughout my career. I know firsthand how dangerous misinformation—or no information at all—can be to their physical and emotional well-being.

It’s important to note that the money raised by the Princeton Half-Marathon is specifically targeted for providing adolescents access to mental health screenings. This speaks to the HiTOPS mission to treat young adults like whole people and not just the sum of their private parts.

I did agree with the final point in the letter, which read in part: “We should remind ourselves and teach our teens that sometimes it is necessary to consider other voices and to rethink our own assumptions if we wish to get closer to the truth.”

If only more individuals offering this kind of advice were better at following it themselves.

Megan McCafferty

Fisher Avenue